Louis XII of France

Louis XII of France (27 June 1462-1 January 1515) was the King of France from 1498 to 1515. Louis de Orleans was defeated in the Mad War rebellion of 1485-1488 against King Charles VIII of France, but served as a general during the Italian Wars and in 1498 he succeeded Charles VIII, preceding Francis I of France. He continued his Italian campaigns for the rest of his life.

Biography
Louis de Orleans was born in the Chateau de Blois in the Loire Valley city of Blois, France, in 1462. He was the son of Charles de Orleans and Marie of Cleves, and inherited the title of Duke of Orleans in 1465 after his father's death. Louis was the leader of a major rebellion against the regency of Anne of France from 1485 to 1488 in the "Mad War", but at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cornier in 1488, he was defeated. King Charles VIII of France pardoned him and released him, and Louis served under him as a general during the Italian Wars against the Kingdom of Naples.

In 1498, he inherited the throne of France after Charles VIII hit his head and died. In 1494-1495, Charles VIII took over Naples' throne, but he lost it soon after in a dispute with Spain. A year after becoming king, Louis XII allied with Pope Alexander VI and Louis XII placed his cousin Baron Octavian de Valois in command of a large army that was sent to Italy to assist Papal Captain-General Cesare Borgia. The French army was aided by the Papal army of Borgia, and together they captured Tuscany in 1500. They fought over southern Italy in 1503, but at the Battle of Cerignola and the following Battle of Garigliano, France's armies were defeated and they were forced to retreat north and back into France.

Six years later, Louis XII launched a campaign against the new Pope Julius II after the fall of his House of Borgia allies in Italy. The League of Cambrai, consisting mainly of the Papal States, Venice, and Switzerland, was formed to fight France. At the Battle of Agnadello, the French defeated Venice, who joined France as their allies. The French and Venetians won many battles and held off the League's invasions, and Louis XII died on New Years' Day in 1515. He was succeeded by Francis I of France, who continued his wars.